Hopper car



H. S. HART Se t. 6,, 1932.

HOPPER CAR Filed Jan. 13. B50

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 6, 1932. H. s. HART 1,876,003

HOPPER CAR Filed Jan. 13, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 6, 1932 PATENTi OFFICE i HARRY s. HART, or CHICAGO, rumors HOPPER can Application filed January 13, 1930. Serial No. 420,324.

The invention relates to animproved con- 7 10 sarily restricted in its overall dimensions,

that is, in its length as well as its height to those limits which have been found commercially practical. With the size of the car thus confined by the requirements of the work for which such cars are designed, it follows that the carrying capacity is also restricted Various arrangements in the structural elements of such cars as well as modifications in general design have been heretofore attempted so as to result in increasedhopper space, and thus a corresponding increase in cubic contents carried. Such attempts, however, have been commercially unsuccessful as'generally impractical. r

The present invention contemplates a novel construction of hopper bottom for the type of cars described, which will mater ally lower the bottom walls of the hopper, thus resulting in increased depth and corresponding increase in space available for carrying. contents. Commercial requirements, however, in this regard demand that hopper. doors forming the bottom proper of the hopper, when swung into discharged position must present a clearance of several inches above the road bed, asdefined by the top of the rails. 1 i

It is therefore one of the primary objects of the invention to provide a novel construc tion of hopper bottom adapted especially for the type of cars described, which will result in more eflicient discharging of the contents, while at the same time maintaining the required clearance between the road bed and the hopper doors when in lowerd position.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved hopper construction, which will materially increase the space available for carrying contents, without increasing the overall dimensions of the car as to height and length. 7 I

Still another object is to provide a hopper construction having the above numerated objects, which will be highly eflicient in opera- 5 tion, simple in both design and manner of assembly, and employing relatively few parts, all of which make for greater improvement. in cars of the character mentioned.

With these and various other objects in View, the invention may consist of certain novel features of construction and operation, as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the specification, drawings and claims appendedhereto.

In the drawings, which illustrate an em bodiment of the device and wherein like reference characters are used to'designate like parts- Figure 1 is a sectional view taken trans- 7 versely of a hopper car constructed in accordance with the present invention and showing the hopper doors in closed position.

Figure 2 is a sectional view similar to Figure 1 but showing the hopper doors in 75. discharged position.

The car structure is shown as comprising the usual side sills 10 having the side stakes 11 supported therefrom. The sills extend longitudinally of the car and are joined to end sills not shown, to thus form the frame structure of the car. Each end section of the frame is provided with center sills 12, which provide means for accommodating a draft gear of the conventional type. The center sills extend from each end of the car inwardly and terminate at a point adjacent thehopper walls, to be presently described. Inner sills 13 extend longitudinally of the car on each side of the-sills 12 and are joined to the end sills of the frame. Gusset plates 14 and 15 oin the side sills 10 with the inner sills on their respective sides of the car, and extend diagonally as shown. The hopper is disposed centrally of the car, being located substantially equal distance between the truck frames on each end of the car, which frames form the supporting means for the structure described.

The hopper consists of side walls 16 and 1 diagonally disposed end walls 18, the sides 16 merging into. bottom shedding surfaces 17. The surfaces 17 are supported at spaced intervals by the gusset plates 14 and 15 and have supporting engagement throughout their entire length upon the inner sills 13. Extending longitudinally of the car and on each side thereof are operating shafts- 20, having mounted so as to insure a non-turning fit, a sheave 21. A plurality of sheaves being designated'by 22 are adapted to be mounted upon a shaft 23, which shaft is journaled in a depending supporting member 24, having securing engagementby bolts and other means with the under surface of the'end wall 18. A supporting member jis located on each side of the center sills, the same being duplicated on theother corresponding end wall of the hopper. The structure comprising the operating mechanism to be presently described, is shown in connec-' tion with one end construction of the hopper car,'it being clearly understood that the same is duplicated at the other end of the car. i

For readily discharging the contents of the hopper through the'bottom thereof, same is provided with pivoted hopper doors 25, each door extending the length of the hopper bottom and provided with hinging members 26. These latter "members serve to pivotally secure the door to the triangular plate members 27 the members 27 being supported from inner sills 13. Upon the other end of the doors 25 is securedan angular beam 28, which beam in turn serves to pivotally secure an extension 30 to the door. Forr'this purpose the beam is provided with a forwardly extending plate 31, the extension half of the hopper bottom, that is, the portion consisting of the door 25 and extension 30, were to pivot as a unit from the member 27, the same would be disposed when in full discharged position well below the top of the road bed. The operating mechanism for the doors rectifies this condition by imparting a rapid pivoting movement to the extensions 30, upon dropping of the door 25 so that. in the discharged position as shown in Figure 2, the extensions are doubled back upon the doors.

The operating mechanism is embodied in a main supporting casting 33, being secured to. the center sills 12 as shown and provided with depending arms 34. The casting 33 has journaled therein spaced shafts 35, eachshaft having fitted thereto, so as to form a non-turning pivotally secured to its end a hanger arm 40, which arms in turn are secured to the 30. pivotingaround the shaft '32. If each doors 25 through pivotal engagement with the shaft 32. The arms 38 and 40 therefore support the free end of the doors 25 from the shaft 35 and also limit the full open position of the doors as shown in Figure 2. Also, it is to be noted that with the doors in the closed position the arms 40 are disposed over and so raised upon the shafts 35. The entire weight of the ballast material upon the hopper doors is therefore supported from the casting 33,'an'd thus from the center sills 12.

For causing the extensions 30 to pivot around the shaft 32 upon dropping of the doors-25.,the same are provided with end plates 41 of triangular shape as shown, having a" slot 42 inone vertexthereof, which provide means forlinking the plate 41 withv the dependingarms 34. With the parts in closed position as shown in Figure 1, and it is desired to discharge the contents of the hopper, it is only necessary for the operator,

' il'ar shafts are located on either side of the car, the mechanism can be operated from the sidemost' convenient. Rotation ofshaft 20 through the endless chain 42 imparts like rotation to the shafts 35 as the chain 42 travels over the sheaves 22 and around the large sheave 37 upon shafts 35. Each shaft 35 is mechanically connected to the other by an endless chain 44, which travels on the smaller sheaves 36 and is crossed upon itself so that the shafts have opposite directions of rotation.

It is therefore seen thatupon clockwiserotation being imparted to the right hand shaft 35 and-counter clockwise rotation consequently being given to the other shafts, that the crank arms 38 will be swung'outwardly so as to lift the hanger arms 40 from engagement with the shafts35 and'consequently upon further rotation, lower the arms 40 and the hopperdoors 25. This lowering of the doors 25 results in a pivotal movement being given to the extensions 30, which pivotal movement increases rapidly as the doors 25 approach their lowermost position. 'As doors 25 drop as described, the end of the arms 34 ride within the slots 42, thus causing the pivotal movement of the. extensions 30. Upon rotation being imparted to the shafts 20 by the operator in the other direction, the same will serve to impart the required direction of rotation to the shafts 35 to cause a raising of the arms 40 and thus a raising of the doors 25 so as to assume their closed position.

The structure above described gives rise to many important features and advantages in the construction of hopper cars, as it al-. lows a material increase in the available hopper space by a lowering of the hopper bottom, including the shedding surfaces 17, as well as-the pivoted hopper doors25. The lowering of this pivotal'point of'the hopper doors does not result in the end of the doors being disposed below the road bed when in discharged position, since the pivotal extension provided is given such a pivotal rotation around the end of the hopper doors as to result in a construction allowing more efiicient dumping of the contents without encroaching upon the restrictions which require the hopper discharging bottoms to present a clearance above the road bed when in discharged position.

It is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited by the exact embodiment of the device shown, which is merely by way of illustration and not limitation, as various and other forms of the device will of course be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims. 7

I claim:

1. A railway car comprising a body construction and trucks and wheels therefor supporting said body at a predetermined distance above the wheel tracks, having doors for closing the hopper thereof pivotally mounted at the lower end of said hopper and of a length greater than the distance between the location of its pivot and the wheel tracks,

a portion of said door being adapted to be moved relative to and simultaneously with the opening of the door proper to provide (learance for the complete opening of said oor.

2. In a car of the class described, a hopper having a discharge opening at its bottom, means normally closing said opening, said means comprising a door pivoted to the car structure and provided with an extension, said extension being movable simultaneously with the door so as to provide clearance for opening said door.

3. In a car of the class described, a hopper having a discharge opening in its bottom, a pair of doors pivoted to the car structure and adapted to close said opening, said doors comprising a main portion and an extension pivotally secured to their free end, means in. cluding a hanger arm and a crank arm pivotally secured thereto for causing the opening and closing of said doors, an arm depending from the car strucure, and a slot provided in said extension whereby the extension engages said depending arm to cause pivotal movement thereof upon movement being imparted to the main portion.

4:. In a car of the class described, a hopper having a discharge opening in its bottom, doors for closing said opening comprising a main portion and an extension pivotally secured to the swinging edge of said main portion, said extension having engagement with means depending from said car to cause movement thereof upon movement of said main portion, whereby the radial length of the door is lessened to confine the movement of its swinging edge within prescribed limits. 5. In a car of the class described, a hopper having a discharge opening in its bottom, a pair of doors pivoted to the car structure and adapted to close said opening, each door comprising a main portion and an extension pivotally secured thereto, a depending arm supported from the car structure, said arm having means located in a slot in said extension, whereby swinging movement of said main portion causes pivotal movement of the extension relative to said main portion.

6. In a car of the class described, a hopper having a discharge opening in its bottom, a pair of doors pivoted to the car structure and adapted to close said opening, each door comprising a main portion and an extension pivotally secured thereto, a depending arm supported from the ear structure, a slot provided in said extensions, said arm having means located in said slot, whereby upon swinging movement of the main portion said extension has pivotal rotation around the end of the main portion to lessen the radial length of the door as a whole.

Signed at Chicago, this 24th day of December, 1929. V

, HARRY S. HART. 

